Last night I had a dream that I was in an orchestra. It was a very good group, made up largely of members from the Minnesota Orchestra, who had given up their careers in that august organization and relocated to my small Wisconsin hometown. We were searching for repertoire. “You should try Bruckner 8!” I said. Although most were ex-members of Minnesota, they weren’t familiar with Bruckner 8. So the music magically appeared and was distributed. We began the last movement first (as you do in dreams). We got to a certain point where everything (i.e., the strings, the horns, the horns, and the horns) came together, and you know what? It was magnificent. What a rush. However, we decided to cut it off at one of the climaxes because whatever concert we were programming for had a strict time limit.
I tried listening to the passage in question this morning, curious if my midnight dream had any effect on me. Sorry to say, it didn’t. Bruckner still grated. But I’m heartened my subconscious is working on it. We’ll see if this dream ever comes true. (Minus the mass exodus of Minnesota Orchestra members to Eau Claire, Wisconsin.)
Sigh
Anyway. As the kids on Tumblr say…
“This has been a post.”
(If this blog means nothing to you, it’s probably for the best. Just keep scrolling.)
Song of the Lark 
Watch out! Next you will meet him, and have to explain why you don’t like him.
…maybe he might be understanding…
Bruckner 8 is definitely “Death Metal” stuff. No. 9 has a Psycho (yes, the movie) “slasher” Scherzo. They can be good music; but horrifyingly. For whatever reason, No. 7 is more normal. It is OK to be troubled by Bruckner’s music. I’d avoid listening to it. I’d even avoid concerts with Bruckner programming because the louder the performance the crazier the audience gets. I would not be troubled with not liking it.
Also, you should give yourself credit for your intuition and your research into his life in your “I hate…” articles. I think you are onto something there.
Hello, Bruckner’s music is “headbanging” horror music. Some have “Death Metal” stuff. No. 9 has a Psycho “yes, the movie” slasher Scherzo. This has been documented. Please read this summary: http://www.mcgill.ca/reporter/39/09/pearlman/ if you don’t want to listen to the McGill Podcast by Don McLean: http://podcasts.mcgill.ca/music/what-to-listen-for-bruckner-and-heavy-metal/.
A passage from the above summary: After McLean has pointed out that one of Bruckner’s biggest fans was fellow Austrian Adolf Hitler, Pearlman elaborates. “We owe the creation of heavy metal to the Third Reich,” he says, “because a lot of the Jewish composers who left Europe went on to compose for Hollywood horror films. They exposed kids to a Brucknerian vocabulary and it subsequently morphed into heavy metal.”
There are fans of this kind of music. But do not be confused by the nature of this kind of music. They might have made connections to this kind of music in a way that they have not yet realized.
It seems to me that the relevant question is not why we don’t like Bruckner’s music but why some do.
Please do not be intimidated or bullied by people who dig that kind of music. You can also help others by letting them know the connection between Bruckner’s music and horror movie music. For some reason, McLean’s work is not well publicized and one has to look for it to find it.